As your company grows, so do your questions. That’s exactly why GRITT Business Coaching was formed - to help you successfully scale your business. From accounting to business strategy to employee engagement, GRITT Business Coaching has you covered with top industry experts.

GRITT Business Coaching Founders

Patrick Carpenter

President

Patrick’s 30-year career includes senior management positions with two global fortune 100 companies and international business assignments in Canada, Brazil, Mexico and the UK where he opened offices and launched new products. Patrick also co-owned his own medical business which he grew from $1 million in revenue to over $12 million in revenue in 4 years.

As senior leader, he has served both large companies and small. During his career he has developed over $300 million dollars in new business. He has worked with companies such as McKesson, Johnson & Johnson, TYCO, 3M, Novartis, Kiolbassa, and New Belgium as well as public institutions such as John Hopkins University, Kansas University and the Mayo Clinic. During one three-year assignment with Omron Healthcare, Patrick led the professional medical group to acquire the American Heart Association endorsement for a new blood pressure monitor. This endorsement led to Omron gaining retail business with the top retail pharmacies in the world. Patrick also spent personal time to advance awareness in Hypertension working with leaders from AHA and the World Health Organization.

Patrick is on the Vistage speakers circuit and is a regular speaker at NCEO. Patrick is known for his unwavering commitment to client experience and positive long-lasting relationships.

Patrick is the son of the late Jill Carpenter, who helped to pioneer the concept of Open Book Management, co-authoring two books, The Power of Open-Book Management and The Field Book of Open-Book Management.

Patrick spent 10 years with SRC, the birthplace of open book management, and spent 8 years as a coach and a leader and helped to grow the company in profit and sales.

Patrick’s life work is now dedicated to honoring the legacy of Jill and the thousands of employees who are just crazy enough to believe that all employees should be treated with unconditional positive regard and taught to understand the financials, reaping the rewards they helped create.

Shawn Burcham

Partner

Shawn Burcham is the Founder & CEO of Pro Food Systems, Inc. (PFSbrands) which he and his wife Julie started, out of their home in 1998. PFSbrands has grown to 130+ employee-owners across 18 states and is now 100% employee-owned. The company has over 1,200 branded foodservice locations across 38 states and they are best known for their Champs Chicken franchise brand which was started in 1999. The company now offers BluTaco as a franchise brand and Cooper’s Express as a license program. They also create private label programs for many of their customers. PFSbrands works predominately with supermarkets and convenience stores across the country.

Prior to starting PFSbrands Shawn spent 5 years with a Fortune 100 company, Mid-America Dairyman. Pioneering an intern program and sales training program, at a young age just after graduating college he assumed a 14 state Regional Sales Manager position for the Packaged & Processed Cheese Division. He went on to spend three years as a Regional Sales Manager for a Midwest Chester Fried distributor.

Shawn made a decision in 1998 to take a major risk in quitting his job and starting a business from the ground floor. Since starting PFSbrands, Shawn has started and grown over 10 businesses while also investing in other businesses where he feels he can help owners become more successful.

It’s because of these varied experiences that Shawn truly believes empowering employees to think and act like owners is the recipe for success.

Shawn is passionate about helping others become more successful in work and in life. He believes in taking care of employees and providing them with opportunities where they can excel. He has a non-entitlement mentality and a straight-talk approach. He believes that all leaders need to CARE, HAVE FUN, and HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE TO HIGH EXPECTATIONS. Shawn is a true entrepreneur that has taken the risks necessary to lead a company to double-digit growth for 20+ years.

Mark Gandy

Partner

Mark Gandy of G3CFO and Free Agent CFO™ is obsessed with helping businesses grow their three bottom lines—top-line unit sales, profitable cash flow, and the street value of the organizations they are trying to grow. As a non-traditional CFO, Mark uses his acumen of marketing, sales management, streamlined operating workflows, data analytics, and agile-based business modeling to support these objectives.

Mark is honored, humbled, and thrilled to be a part of the GBC ownership group whose primary aim is to move the company’s they serve closer to their true calling—great results for their customers, their internal teams, and the communities they live in.

Jennifer Briggs

Partner

Jennifer Briggs brings over two decades of practice in human resources, organizational development, and executive leadership from a variety of industries. She served as VP of Human Resources with New Belgium Brewing for 12 years creating a winning ‘best of’ workplace and now serves as an educator and advisor to companies who want to redefine value in a more holistic manner. Building healthy, profitable, democratically managed companies with shared capital ownership is her passion. A mentor once taught her to never let a rule get in the way of making a good decision and she strives to make critical thinking, intention and agile action guiding principles. She brings a non-traditional HR viewpoint of relying primarily on values, communication, and community.

She is an advisor with the Beyster Institute with the University of California San Diego and serves on corporate boards for PFSbrands, GISinc., and Engineering Economics, Inc. She is on the advisory boards for The Moxie Exchange and Organically Grown and participates with the Democracy at Work Institute. She holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership, graduate studies in Enterprise Project Management and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education. She is currently a fellow with the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing with Rutgers University.

Trevor Monnig

Partner

Trevor Monnig has spent more than 15 years in the role of CFO for two high growth companies in the manufacturing and distribution industry. He prides himself on being a progressive CFO that goes above and beyond the traditional finance roles. Trevor is passionate about integrating the entire organization to align all business units to company goals. He recognizes people as the company’s biggest asset and leverages this by hiring for culture and nurturing healthy working relationships. He is experienced in deploying Open Book Management and firmly believes this transparent platform is the future of organizational management.

As CFO of PFSbrands, a 100% ESOP company, Trevor educates all teams on financial performance, financial literacy, factors impacting the business, and connecting each employee owner to the profitability of the company. He promotes data in all decision making, encourages exploration, and has a tolerance for failure. He serves on corporate boards of Burgers’ Smokehouse and Winter-Dent & Company and is highly active in the ESOP and Open Book Management communities.